South Carolina had the highest rate of speeding-related traffic deaths in the nation from 1983 through 2002, according to a federal study released this week.

The state recorded 19,211 traffic fatalities during the 20-year period. Of that number, 9,515 deaths — or just less than 50 percent — were speeding-related, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration study found.

New Jersey had the lowest speeding-related fatality rate for the period, at 14 percent. North Carolina’s rate was 39 percent; Georgia’s was 27 percent. The annual rate in the United States was about 32 percent.

Transportation officials and safety advocates attribute South Carolina’s ranking to a lack of state troopers and the poor condition of rural roads.

The federal study didn’t say why South Carolina’s speeding-related fatality rate was higher than other states’, though nationally it found that rural roads, problems with negotiating curves, and drinking and driving were major factors.

“This is compelling, graphic evidence of the effect of cutting or failure to fund the state Highway Patrol,” Tom Crosby, spokesman for AAA Carolinas, said Thursday.

Speeding — combined with increased traffic and reduced state trooper numbers in South Carolina in recent years — has been a “recipe for disaster,” Crosby said.

Because of budget cuts, the number of troopers has dropped to about 770 today from 961 in 2000, said Sid Gaulden, spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety.

That has resulted in troopers spending “an inordinate amount of time” responding to collisions while reducing time spent on catching speeders and other traffic violators, he said.

The S.C. Highway Patrol last year issued 239,686 speeding tickets, agency records show.

The Legislature this year increased funding to add 100 troopers; a class for 50 troopers will be held in July and another 50 will be trained in January, Gaulden said. Rep. Ronny Townsend, R-Anderson, said further increases in the patrol’s numbers will be a priority when lawmakers convene in January.

“Until we get enough of them on the road, I’m not sure the motoring population will slow down,” he said.

Townsend was the House sponsor of a new law that will allow police to ticket motorists for not wearing seat belts without having to first stop them for another reason. Townsend said he believes buckling up will save lives, “no matter what the speed.”

Max Young, director of the S.C. Office of Highway Safety, thinks the state’s high speeding-related fatality rate has “a lot to do with rural roads.” He estimated at least half of the state’s approximately 60,000 miles of roads are “farm-to-market” roads.

Although speed limits on interstates are higher, those roadways generally are safer because of such features as multiple lanes and median barriers, Young said.

Besides saving lives, reducing the number of speeding-related deaths also can help keep auto insurance rates stable, said Allison Love, director of the S.C. Insurance News Service.

“The more deaths and injuries and property damage we have, the more we have to pay for our auto insurance,” she said.

The percentage of S.C. traffic deaths caused by speeding has fluctuated over the years, from a high of 63 percent in 1985 to a low of 39 percent in 2000, the federal study found. In 2002, 495, or 47 percent, of the 1,053 total traffic deaths were speeding-related.

There were 969 total traffic deaths in 2003, 1,046 last year and 482 this year through Wednesday, according to the state Office of Highway Safety. How many of those deaths were speeding-related is not known.

Nationally, the percentage of speeding-related deaths steadily dropped from a high of about 37 percent in 1986 to a low of about 30 percent in 2000, the federal study found. The rates rose, however, in 2001 and 2002.

Reach Brundrett at (803) 771-8484 or rbrundrett@thestate.com.